Fraud losses in Sask. nearly doubled in 2022 to $9.3M, data shows

Raiza Ocampo was duped.

She was selling diapers she didn't need through Facebook Marketplace. A mother with young children wanted to buy them and sent the $18 she owed via e-transfer.

Ocampo, a Regina resident, received an email about the transfer, but the money didn't make it to her account.

"When I tried to message her about it, she blocked me," she said.

A screenshot of the email showed Interac logos, a reference number and links to various social media that, according to Ocampo, worked when clicked on. The word 'deposited' was misspelled in the subject line, however, with an extra 'd' at the end.

"Oh, this is what they're talking about," Ocampo recalled thinking at the time.

"I felt like a victim."

Fraud and scams turned a major profit throughout Canada last year, marking another record year in terms of money victims lost, according to data provided by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

Overall, more than $529 million was reported taken from about 37,000 people last year nationwide, data shows. Ontario was the province worst hit: about 11,110 people lost more than $213 million.

In Saskatchewan, the amount of money lost in 2022 nearly doubled from the previous year, despite a relatively small increase in the number of victims, data shows.

More than $9.3 million was taken from 790 victims in the province last year, compared to $4.8 million taken from 643 people in 2021.

About one in three victims in Saskatchewan last year were seniors. More than a third of the money lost — about $3.3 million — was taken from seniors, data shows.

"It's a little bit scary to see how significant the numbers are across provinces, specifically for Saskatchewan," said Natalia Stakhova, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Saskatchewan.

Scams are easy to pull due to technology, and people may turn to fraud during tough economic times, Stakhova said, so she isn't surprised that more money has been taken.